News Release – Emergency Supports For Home Share, Support Service Providers

Provincial emergency COVID-19 funding will be distributed through Community Living BC (CLBC) to ensure people with developmental disabilities stay supported and safe during the pandemic.

As part of the B.C. Government’s $5-billion COVID-19 Action Plan, up to $35.6 million will be available over three months from CLBC to support service providers to continue delivering residential services, including group homes, home sharing and supported independent living that about 9,500 adults with developmental disabilities count on.

“This pandemic has had a significant impact on agencies and home-sharing providers who perform essential care and services, creating challenges for people with developmental disabilities and their families,” said Shane Simpson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. “This funding will ensure that quality of care and staffing levels are maintained so that the people who depend on these services remain safe and supported.”

Under this temporary emergency support, CLBC service providers who provide residential services, such as group homes, can request funding to address overtime costs or staffing shortages and to access additional supplies for delivering disability-related supports to keep individuals safe.

People with developmental disabilities who live independently with the help of agency-supported living services have also been identified as vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emergency funding will support service providers to adjust and continue supports to keep these people safe.

Many home-sharing providers are taking on extra caregiving requirements. This is because of the need to follow health guidelines, the disruption to services, such as community inclusion or day programs, and difficulty in acquiring resources that people usually access in their communities. These home-sharing providers will be able to apply for temporary additional funding to ensure people under their care remain supported.

In some cases, these residential services are managed through individualized funding arrangements or person-centred societies, rather than service providers. They will also be able to access emergency funding to maintain residential services.

As well, the Province has provided $125,000 to VELA Microboard Association of B.C. to enhance its Support Worker Central web platform. Microboards are small groups of family and friends (a minimum of five people) who create a non-profit society to support adults with developmental disabilities. This is an online database designed to match individuals, families and agencies with support workers in their communities.

CLBC will work with agencies and launch the process to request funding on April 27, 2020. Funds are available retroactive to April 1, 2020.

Quotes:

Ross Chilton, CEO, Community Living BC –

“I want to recognize the tremendous effort over the last month on the part of service providers to modify services and home-sharing providers to provide the care necessary to keep people safe. It will be reassuring to many families to know that agencies and home-sharing providers will be supported so that they have capacity to respond to needs during these challenging times.”

Brenda Gillette, CEO, BC CEO Network –

“This funding responds to the needs expressed by community-living service providers in order to safeguard some of B.C.’s most vulnerable citizens. It will ensure we can continue to deliver essential front-line support.”

Karla Verschoor, executive director, Inclusion BC –

“The last six weeks have reinforced the critical role of the community-living sector in keeping people safe and supported. These emergency funds will allow organizations to continue providing essential services during the coming months. Inclusion BC applauds the government for its support of our member organizations.”

Quick Facts:

CLBC funds three kinds of residential supports:

Staffed residential (group homes): 240 service providers support about 2,700 people living in 900 group homes (which usually house up to four people) throughout B.C. People who choose this option generally need quite a bit of support for daily living. Staff are available throughout the day and night.

Home sharing: 470 service providers provide support for about 4,500 home-sharing arrangements, where a person shares a home with an individual, couple or family that is contracted to provide supports for daily living.

Supported living: About 2,100 people live independently in their own home and get supports for daily living from about 300 service providers.

Backgrounder: CLBC COVID-19 supports

The Province is providing up to $35.6 million in temporary emergency funding to ensure critical residential services continue for adults with developmental disabilities.

The Community Living BC (CLBC) COVID-19 Emergency Fund will help agencies and home-sharing providers address financial pressures related to the pandemic in order to sustain services like group homes, home sharing and supported living.

As of April 27, 2020, service providers will be able to request funding on a monthly basis, retroactive to April 1, 2020. Home-sharing providers will request funding from their co-ordinating agencies or from CLBC if they are directly contracted by the Crown corporation.

Those who receive residential services via individualized funding arrangements under standard agreements will be able to request funding through the VELA Microboard Association of B.C.

Eligibility

Funding for emergency supports assumes available resources under existing contracts are fully deployed prior to a request for the emergency funding support.

The CLBC COVID-19 Emergency Fund will help meet the following kinds of costs:

staff overtime and additional staffing required to adapt service delivery and maintain service:

The CLBC COVID-19 Emergency Fund will also provide support for home sharing providers who are not able to access community inclusion or other supports they rely on and who have taken on extra duties and costs to help keep supported individuals safe.

Requests that fit the purpose of the fund and are deemed appropriate will be approved based on monthly requirements during the term when funding is available.

Be part of making B.C. a better, more accessible place by becoming an inclusive employer. Here is some helpful information on how you can start now #AccessAbilityWeek https://twitter.com/accessemployers/status/1262807757364899842

Learn more about @ised_ca's investments to help improve access to digital technology: